Coffee maker



Feb. 8, 1938. J. c. ADAMS,

v AcoEEEE MAKER original Filed o'ct. 4, 1953 Inventor'. Joy C.Ade:m$,

by x

His Attorney.

I PatentedvFebifB, 1938 NT orrlca COFFEE MAKER JoyC.Adams,Brldgeport,'Conn., alllgnae to Genallleetriecomnannamtianol NewYork application October ofllillll 692,097. Divided and 4, 1m, sensi No.this application November 15, 1935, Serial No. 49,896

- Y 5 Claims.

This invention relates `to coffee makers, more particularly tu coifeemakers of the "drip type wherein the heated water passes but oncethrough the coi'fee grounds, and it has for its 5 l objectv theprovision of an improved device of this character.

This application is a division of'my copend'ing application, Serial No.692,097, filed October 4, 1933, and is assigned to the same assigneeas lthis copendingapplicatiom In making coffee by the drip method the hotwater which iirst .passes through the coiIee grounds extracts morevcoffee essence or ilavor vthan the hot water that is subsequently passedlthrough the grounds. The coflee infusion which is nrst. made is,therefore, much stronger than the rest. As a result. the coffee infusion`collects `in layers or strata of diilerent strength in the infusionchamber, the conee in the lower strata being much stronger than that inthe, higher. lConsequently;v the ilrst cup or. so of coifee withdrawnfrom the infusion chamber is considerably stronger than `those withdrawnlater.

This invention contemplates the provision of suitable meansV forautomatically mixingA the coifee fromlthe various layers so that thetlrst cup voi/cgoiee, withdrawn will be no stronger than the rest. l

For a more ycomplete understanding of my invention,`reference `shouldvbe had to the accompanying drawing in which the single gure is a verticovation of a codee maker arranged in accord c. with my invention, partsbeing shown .v s on`so as to illustrate certain details of tion. f

IV` ringZto thevdrawing, I have shown my feniiion in `one form asapplied to a coffee vof the drip" type comprising a water l containerorreceptacle i0 `and a coifee infusion 40 receptacle ll placed above it.The water receptacle Ill is mounted upon a suitable base. I2.

The` upper end of .the water receptacle. I0 is open, an'd its .upper`edge i! `ris arranged to support the infusionjreceptacle IfilgAs shown,the infusion receptacle l I is providedl with a peripheral downwardlyextendingflange I4 which is arranged to lit tightly about the upperouter edge portion of the water receptacle so as to retain the infusionreceptacle in its proper position upon the water receptacle. A suitableground coil'ee container I5 is supported in the upper portion of theinfusion chamber Il.

As pointed out in detail in my above mentioned copending application,the water in the water container i0 is heated and transferred bypercolator action up to the infusion chamber Ii where it is caused toperoolate through the ground coffee in the container Il to the lowerportion of the infusion chamber Il. As shown, a suitable percolatorfountain tube It is pro-y vided to convey the water from the heatingchamber to a point in the infusicn chamber .somewhat above the groundeoifee container Il so that the water which issues from the tube willfall directly into the coifee container.

'Ihe infusion chamber Il preferably will be provided with-a4 centrallyarranged vertical tube I1 adapted to slide over the fountain tube Il soas to vstabilize the position of the infusion chamber. The metallic tubeI1, as shown, is threaded into the bottom wall Il of the infusionchamber. 'lhe tubular member ilalso functions to support the groundcoffee containeril. For this purpose, the tubular member is providedwith a collar or abutment Il on which the ground coifee container rests.4

It. will be understood, of course, that the coifee container I! will becovered by means of a suitable water distributing screen 2l in the usualmanner. It will also be understood that the -infusion chamber Il will beprovided with asuitlable cover 2| which supports centrally thereof aglass cover member 22 arranged to spread the water which issues from the.fountain tube Il over the spreading screen 2l in a manner wellunderstood by those skilled in the art.

The coffee infusion in the chamber Il is drawn off through a dischargeconduit 2l which communicates with a passageway 2l rigidly secured inthe receptacle Il, and which in turn communicates with a suitable faucet2i. The conduit 23, communicates with the infusion chamber I I by meansof a discharge sump 2t arranged below and centrally of the bottom of theinfusion chamber. 'Ihe conduit 23 at its discharge end is provided witha downwardly depending nozzle 21. which is arranged to be received in anupturned socket 2l provided for it in the l,con-- duit 24. By reason ofthisl arrangement, it will be observed that when the infusion chamber iI is placed upon the water container I0, the nozzle 21 will be receivedin the socket 28 so as to eiIect a water-tight connection between theconduits' 23 and 2l.

I have provided suitable means for mixing the several layers of theinfusion so that the ilrst cup of coifee withdrawn will be no strongerthan the rest. For this purpose, I have provided an'upright conduit 2lcentrally of the infusion chamber.. 'I'his conduit communicates at itslower .55

' end with the discharge sump 20'; as shown, the

conduit 29 has a threaded connection with the sump. The conduit, asshown. lprojects upwardly ,through the bottom wall Il, and directlyabove the bottom wall has a collar 3l threaded upon it so! that thebottom wall is sandwiched between the collar and the sump. Suitablegaskets Il are provided between the collar il and the bottom wall 'Il.and between the bottom wall and the sump, as clearly shown in theligure, so as to effect a liquid-tight connection between the sump y26and conduit 2l and the bottom wall il. Thevconduit 2l is provided with aplurality of Aapertures I! arranged at different levels of the infusionchamber so that coifee infusion is supplied to the conduit and hence tothev sumpfrom several dinerent liquid levels inv the infusion chamber.Thus, when the faucet I! is opened so as to allow coffee infusion toilow from the chamber i I,'the infusion of the severallevels are Y mixedtogether in the conduit 2l. :The first cup of coee withdrawn, therefore,will be `formed oi' infusion of. different degrees of strength, 'some ofit coming from the stronger bottom layers,

some from weaker intermediate layers and some lfrom 'the weakest layersat the top. Likewise,

`- the seoondoup win be oued with const from substantiallythe sameliquid ylayers of the infusionv chamber. Inthis manner,- all of the cupswill belled with infusion'of substantially the same strength.

' It will beobserved that I have provided suitable means for'Awithdrawing coee infusion from various layers in the infusion chamber,thereby insuring that the coifee in successive cups will havesubstantially the same strength. While I have shown a particularembodiment of my invention, it will be understood. of course, that I donot wish to belimited thereto since many modifications may be made, andI. therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such`modiilcations as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure `by Letters Patent. of theUnited States, is:

-1. A coifee maker comprising an'infusion receptacle, a ground coffeereceptacle in the upper portion of, said-infusion receptacle, means forsupplyinsheated water to said coffee receptacle throughv whichitgravitates to said infusion receptacle wherev it' collects in strataof varying duit and having a plurality of apertures ar lstrength fromthe lower to the upper levels of thev collectedl infusion, a dischargeconduit, a

faucet' controlling said conduit, a

vertical vconduit within said receptacle connected at its lower end tosaid discharge conranged at .spaced intervals from said lower to saidupperlevels so that infusion of varying strength at the different levelsof the collected infusion can iiow simultaneouslyinto said verticalconduit, when the faucet is opened so that the infusion from the dlerentlevels is mixed in the conduit and discharged from the faucet.

2. A drip coee maker comprising a ground coffee container, a receptaclearranged to receive receptacle having a discharge sump in its -bottomwall, a discharge conduit extending upwardly a material distance intosaid infusion receptacle substantially from the lower to the upperinfusion level and having a plurality of apertures through its wallsspaced at intervals substantially from the bottom to the top ofsaidconduit, means connecting the lower end of said conduit with solosump, a discharge faucet and means connecting said sump with saidfaucet, the coil'ee infusion in said infusion receptacle flowing intosaid discharge conduit when the faucet is open from said lower to saidupper level so as to mix the coiee brew of different strengths fromdifferent levels.

4. A drip coii'ee maker comprising a water container and a coffeeinfusion receptacle detachably.

mounted on said water container, said infusion receptacle having adischarge sump below its bottom wall. a discharge conduit extendingvupwardly into said infusion receptacle through said bottom wall, saidconduit having afplurality of apertures through its walls positioned atdiiferent levelsand having its lower end connected with said sump, adischarge' conduit rigidly secured to saidsump. a. discharge Iconduitrigidly securedto the lwallsof said water receptacle. a discharge faucetcontrolling said latter conduit, means for establishing-liquidcommunication between said discharge conduits when said infusionreceptacle is placed in its operative position on said water receptacle,and the coifee infusion in said infusion receptacle owing into saiddischarge conduit n from vsaid .different levels when the faucet isopened so as to mix the coifee brew of diderent strengths from thediiilerent4 levels.

5.l A coilee maker comprising any infusion re ceptacle, a. ground con'eereceptacle in said infusion receptacle, means for supplying heated waterto said coifee receptacle through which it gravitates to lsaid infusionreceptacle where it collects in strata ofr varying strength fromithelower to the upper levels of lthe collected infusion, a dischargeIconduit, means controlling the l discharge of coifee brew from saidconduit. a vertical conduit within said receptacle connected at itslower end to, said discharge conduit and having a plurality 'ofapertures at spaced intervals from said llower to said upper level sothat infusion of varying strength at the different levels' of thecollected infusion can flow linto and mix in said vertical conduit whenthe brew is discharged from said discharge conduit.

JOY C. ADAMS.

